White hair chronicles LXIV - Jose Rizal@150

The younger kids now know who Jose Rizal is but it stops at that. My generation is replete with stories of Rizal's genius and love for country. We remember the tale of Rizal throwing his remaining slipper to the water after losing the other half in the currents. There are also the tales of the moth and the lamplight, how he made champorado from left-over rice, how he operated on his mother's eyes, how he excelled in fencing, the arts, and in writing, and how he dramatically faced the muskets when he was executed.

Many stories maybe are apocryphal. That's the stuff that makes heroes, anyway. But notwithstanding Veneration Without Understanding, Rizal is our hero. And in this age, we need heroes that transcend time, politics, and personal desires. The fact that the Americans sponsored Rizal's ascendance to the exalted throne of National Hero does does not diminish his achievements and heroism. Nor it does not make him undeserving to be called such.

Rizal's being born from society's upper class does not preclude him from being the national hero. His martyrdom alone continues to inspire. Such ability to inspire has no class prerequisite.

So to remind my family, especially my two sons, aged 14 and 8, of who Rizal is, we trooped to the Luneta last Sunday. My young sons personal heroes range from Rafael Nadal to John Lennon to Ozzy Osbourne. We were surprised that despite the inclement weather, throngs of student were also there. I told my sons, that when Rizal turns 200, a bigger celebration will be organized. Perhaps they will also be at Luneta with their grandchildren and they should tell them that here lies a man whose heroism is truly profound. He did what he did despite the grim consequences, not for revenge or personal ambition, but because it was the right thing.

Women's tennis album - June 2011

White hair chronicles LXIII: IBM and La Salle @100, Pinatubo@20, Duran@60

Last June 16 was an important day for several reasons. This white hair chronicler's penchant for trivia was whetted by the anniversaries occurring on this date. While the younger set might not see the significance of these events, I have witnessed history made by the celebrators of this date.

First, IBM and La Salle celebrated their 100th anniversary. Because of its proximity to my house, maybe I would have studied in La Salle if I had not been accepted in my original choices for high school and college.

I have used IBM machines for the longest time. While I typed my thesis on an IBM Selectric typewriter, my younger office mates have not used a typewriter at all. In college, I learned COBOL programming using punched cards. Punched cards were a major source of IBM's revenues. The university computer then was an IBM mainframe (I don't think there were other brands). Then at later work I also used IBM's AS/400 using AIX. Then of course much later, IBM/Lenovo laptops.

Roberto Duran, a very durable fighter whose career spanned 5 decades, celebrated his 60th birthday. Today's fight fans see fighters who carefully select opponents to preserve their records. Duran belonged to an era where everyone fought everybody else. Those were boxing's golden days.

And of course, we remember June 16 as the date of Mt. Pinatubo's explosion. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the explosion that helped slow down global warming for at least several years and changed our landscape (political and geological) by forcibly ousting the Americans.

Women's tennis album - French Open 2011 part 3